Assessing the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Contraception in Semi-Urban Area in India: A Qualitative Assessment of Contraceptive Usage

Objective: To study the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of contraception among semi-urban women. This is a qualitative assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices for the use of family planning methods in a community. As the various factors which influence the acceptance of family planning methods, this study was conducted to explore and to guide us to have corrective measures for the above. Methods: This study was done among 100 married women between the age group of 18-45 years attending a health facility and was questioned by a preset semi-structured performa during a fixed period. This is a cross-sectional study; the assessment included an assessment by a preset performa. The performa included details of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding contraceptive use. Results: All women were aware of at least one contraceptive method, 11% never used contraception. The most commonly used contraceptive was condom (55%), followed by 26 CU-T, 13% pills, 6% injectable, 5% tubectomy and 3% emergency contraception. There was a lack of knowledge of modern methods of contraception. Few of them were willing for a permanent method of sterilization. There was a KAP gap of 20% in total subjects and it was more significant among Muslim as compared to Hindu women. Conclusions: Though every woman in the study was aware of at least one contraceptive method the use of the contraceptive method was not 100%. Therefore, there is a strong need for motivational strategies to make people accept the methods. Furthermore, there is a need to organize more educational programs and health camps to increase awareness about the existing contraceptive methods.